LOS ANGELES ’ In a rare weekend tug-of-war among three wildly different original films, the box-office figures are a testament to big-budget risks begetting big-time payoff ’ at least, if you’re Christopher Nolan.

The releases of Nolan’s ’Dunkirk,’ Malcolm D. Lee’s ’Girls Trip’ and Luc Besson’s ’Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ marked an unusual turn for Hollywood, where the major studios are often more inclined to roll out a reliably bankable slate of reboots, sequels or prequels (especially given these movies’ sleepy, late-July openings).

’Dunkirk’ ’ the gritty World War II evacuation saga that careened into theaters with a $19.7 million opening day ’ reeled in $50.5 million over the weekend. The film’s earnings pushed Warner Bros. past the $1 billion mark at the domestic box office for its 17th consecutive year ’ a studio record. It’s a promising launch for the $150 million action thriller, one that could allow it to net a projected $150 million-plus by the end of its theatrical run.

The opening numbers feel reminiscent of Nolan’s previous blockbuster, 2014’s ’Interstellar,’ which cost $165 million to produce and which debuted to $47.5 million before climbing to nearly $200 million.

Many analysts expected a tepid start based on the film’s appeal among older men. But the picture, which received an A-minus CinemaScore from audiences, saw a 60 percent male turnout, and 75 percent were 25 or older.

Jeff Goldstein, president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros., said he was ’elated’ with the film’s performance.

Goldstein expects the audience demographic to broaden in the coming weeks, citing word of mouth as the film’s primary marketing scheme. This is evidenced by box-office figures, which reflect a 23 percent jump in ticket sales between Friday and Saturday.

The film’s contemporaneous IMAX release made a notable contribution to its profits, earning about $11.7 million at 402 locations. ’Dunkirk’ also soared in 46 overseas markets, making it No.1 internationally.

Universal’s raunchy comedy ’Girls Trip’ debuted in second place, with an estimated $30.4 million ’ quite the start for a film with a budget of just under $20 million. The impressive beginning indicates a potential shift in attitude toward such racy comedies as the box-office busts ’Rough Night’ and ’The House.’

Although some analysts foresaw the success of ’Girls Trip,’ the movie, which sees stars Regina Hall, Tiffany Haddish, Jada Pinkett Smith and Queen Latifah tossing out well-received one-liners at full-throttle, acts as a stark counterpoint to Hollywood’s historical underestimation of films led by black women.

’Girls Trip’ was a hit with both critics and audiences, earning Lee an A-plus CinemaScore.

’Valerian,’ meanwhile, as anticipated, had a lukewarm debut. French director Besson’s passion project slinked in at fifth place with about $17 million.

In third place was Sony’s ’Spider-Man: Homecoming,’ and in fourth, Fox’s ’War for the Planet of the Apes.’

“The Black Panther” film may not only be the best of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — rivaled only by “Guardians of the Galaxy” — but also one of the most groundbreaking and blood-tingling comic-book flicks of all time.

The Boulder International Film Festival has something new on the program this year — the program. BIFF, which brought its first immersive Virtual Reality Pavilion to last year’s festival, is sticking with technology, and will feature a modern spin on the age-old paper program.f